Tag: Video Games

Street Fighter x G.I. Joe #1 mixes two things I adored from my childhood, Street Fighter and G.I. Joe. I played a ton of Street Fighter II in all its forms in the arcade and at home and I still have a sizable G.I. Joe collection from my childhood. I even own the Street Fighter G.I. Joe toys for goodness sake. In my mind trying to give a formal review for this was going to be difficult to say the least. So I decided, let’s go for the casual review format of the Wes Reads. As Street Fighter x G.I. Joe made my inner child happy from the name alone. With my comic book now in hand, I was fully prepared to lose my mind and full admission, this made me happy. This is one moment where I am glad I don’t have a rating system. One initial title for this was F’yeah Comics: Street Fighter x G.I. Joe #1 because this was the kind of comic where I said F’yeah many times. It’s a pure joyous fight comic at its core and it doesn’t hide that either. It’s story mixed in with lots of endless action and tons of fun. Of course some of you may stop here as you already know I am a happy Wesley right now. Yet, I compel you to read on if you’re not totally sold on why you need Street Fighter x G.I. Joe #1 in your life, because in all honesty, you really do need this book.

Aubrey Sitterson writes this in such a way that you can’t help but embrace the energy he puts into this comic. Emilo Laiso’s art takes the energy from Sitterson’s script and cuts loose with killer coloring work from David Garcia Cruz. Even Robbie Robbins lettering works with the video game and cartoon energy that Street Fighter x G.I. Joe has. It all works to bring this glorious comic to life. Sure you are thrown into this with little to no exposition but before you know it you’re learning what is going on and why the Street Fighter characters are fighting the G.I. Joe team. You have eight characters with four from Street Fighter and four from G.I. Joe. It’s Crimson Viper, Hakan, Rufus, and Ryu for Street Fighter with Snake Eyes, Baroness, Roadblock, and Jinx for the G.I. Joe side. The reason why I got why I dig everyone involved before I dived into story is simple, all the creators make this grouping of warriors work. You even have M. Bison and Destro watching the festivities like Mil Muertes on his throne in Lucha Underground, yeah I really loved this a lot. I’m really not hiding my love for Street Fighter x G.I. Joe at this stage of the game.

Sitterson’s staging is what you can’t help but dig, he really gives Laiso and Cruz as an art team a lot to work with. Lots of bright colors, high excitement, and great action are peppered throughout the first issue. Sitterson makes a point to explain the basic idea of what is happening here, gives you info on the characters, and then onward into another fight and it works. The story and the fights flow into one another seamlessly, set up in such a way that you feel like you are in a video game that happens to be in the pages of a comic book. Even the G.I. Joe characters get their own special moves similar to the Street Fighter characters at points. In overkill fighting game glory Roadblock gets out a giant gun in his fight and it is amazing as he flashes a wicked smile as the bullets are flying, it is just too cool. Put it this way, every fight in the comic will have a moment where you are smiling ear to ear. It’s why I will say Emilo Laiso and David Garcia Cruz outdid themselves here, capturing the liveliness of a video game is tough and the team worked in harmony with Sitterson’s script, I really can’t help but love all of this to pieces.

Street Fighter x G.I. Joe is pure unadulterated fun. The back matter of the book fills in the back story of the comic too, as in the fights you missed. You even get G.I. Joe style file cards for the characters too, which I adore. I do say I would have loved more issues detailing the fights mentioned in the back but it’s all good as I still dig this. You get a solid plot with a ton of action, how cool is that right? Yes there are going to be fans who may not dig this as much but for me, Street Fighter x G.I. Joe hits the spot. It’s simply put a comic that truly earns my original title for this, F’yeah comics. If you enjoy Street Fighter, if you enjoy G.I. Joe, or if you just like fun, make Street Fighter x G.I. Joe a part of your life immediately.